Men in dark suits (or white if you’re Mark Mobius), with deep pockets and an insatiable appetite for yields this week gather in Monaco for the international FundForum to touch base with industry trends, regulations — and each other. Or as one delegate put it: “It’s the Ibiza for professionals.\”

Not your average crowd these guys, but then again few things in Monaco really are. Like that huge Bentley from the United Arab Emirates or the diamond rings lavishly flashed on tanned female fingers. Not to mention the menu prices — 28 euros ($38) for half of a grilled chicken.

Revealing what\’s really one of the headline attractions, Jervis Smith, managing director at Citi in Hong Kong, drew a few sympathetic laughs in the first panel debate: “I don’t know what it is with FundForum, but they insist on having the dinners very late and the sessions very early.\”

Sara Sjolin/MarketWatch

Monaco marina

But it wasn’t just the dinner, was it Jervis? Most of 1,100 delegates (nearly 600 of whom are fund managers) at the conference arrived Monday, just in time for the “White Night” party at the posh waterside Twiga Club. An event where attendees are encouraged to wear just white.

But, partying aside, the managers also came with a noble agenda. John Flood, partner at KPMG, said he was interested in the sessions on cybersecurity — one of the main attractions with Alec Ross, former adviser on innovation and technology to Hillary Clinton, as key note speaker.

Then there were the returning themes on challenges for the industry. Flood forecast that the sector will be facing game-changing years as younger generations will start to make investment decisions on a regular basis.

And of course, there was the networking aspect.

“I can meet 70% of my European clients here over the space of three days,” said Roy Stockell, partner at EY and head of the company’s wealth and asset management in Asia-Pacific.

FundForum has been going on for 24 years and the topics have changed overtime. This year emerging markets, frontier investments and especially Africa have gotten a lot of attention. A few years ago, discussing the euro-zone crisis was more of a priority.

Monaco wasn’t completely shunned from the global financial turmoil either. GDP for the area tanked 11.5% in 2009 and local hotel owners remember how business dropped during the worst of the crisis.

But that feeling is all gone now. There are few other places where you will find a Porsche parked next to a Ferrari parked next to a Rolls Royce parked next to a gigantic yacht big enough to swallow a normal 25 foot boat in its cargo space. And how about a temporary horse-jumping arena right next to the marina? No problem, anything can happen in Monaco. The horse smell will surely mix well with the scent of freshly grilled seafood from the ship galleys, n\’est-ce pas?

Sara Sjolin/MarketWatch

Part of the recent influx of money into Monaco is due to the Russians. A Monagasque-born PR lady (beautiful of course) said the Russian super-rich over the past five years have started to make their mark on the Principality. Even the menus come in Russian now. Glancing at the parking lot in front of the famous Monte-Carlo Casino the super-car license plates offer more evidence — like this pictured convertible cream-colored Bentley in the front row of the casino entrance.

Among the fund managers, this year’s conference also had a positive slant to it. The main issues are no longer the market crisis, but how the turbulence changed regulations for the industry.

As Tom Brown, global head of investment management at KPMG, said in the opening comments: “You are all in a world of pain when it comes to implementing the wave of new regulations that we’ve seen over the last few years.”

Poor things, those asset managers, overseeing billions of dollars. But that was basically it for pessimism. The Bank of England earlier this year said now is the age of the asset-management industry, a comment Brown also pointed out.

“The industry is in good shape. Investors are investing. The markets and the economies seem to be growing. And asset-management businesses are feeling optimistic and positive about the future,” he said.

Let the games begin. The international FundForum conference runs in Monaco until Thursday.

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